just finished wiring my house with cat6, it's awesome PC

for the past 8 years I've been stuck with my n-wireless that's rated for 150 mbits, but really I probably get 30 mbit at best with tons of interference and other devices on the network. gaming was a chore and I would often get 65-70ms ping to local servers. my living room TV could barely do netflix, and I was lucky if I got a 1080p signal, let alone a surround sound audio stream.

So after crawling around in my attic and basement for the past 3 weekends, and building a utility cabinet for the router, modem, PoE switch (for some security cameras and a guest hotspot), I got it done. I had to buy the crimper tool, keystones, jacks, line tester, etc, and that was actually the hardest part. Fishing a wire down the wall takes some time, luck and a long-ass drill bit, but anyone can do it. I had more frustration trying to thread the wire pairs into the jacks than anything, but I finally figured it out after watching several videos and ruining about a dozen rj45 connectors in the process. 1000 feet of cat6 was like 130 bucks, and the tools and hardware were like another $100. I probably spent $300-$350 total.

so yeah, now all of my devices (sans phones and mobile stuff) are getting gigabit signal, and my ping is 17ms on the same servers. I can finally max out my 100mbit internet connection! I can stream videos from my computer to every TV in my house, watch my security cameras and move files over to my nas at the same time without a hiccup. and when new equipment starts getting 10gig support, I'll be ready for that too!

If you're a homeowner with lots of tech in your house, and have the time to do it, I highly recommend it. Very satisfying and worth it.

I'm afraid to drill holes in the wall because there might be some electronic wires behind it.

I recently bought a couple of CAT6 cables because I wanted to use my store discount for the last time. I only bought about 4 cables and they're not very long. But I've always heard having a wired connection is much better than wifi so now I'm going to put it to the test this summer when I move to my new room that has the modem/router nearby. Hopefully it'll make a difference.

And while I'm at it... will I still get a strong connection if I'm wired and someone else is using wifi at the same time? Will anything slow down this way? This hasn't been an issue with wifi ever since I got faster internet, but I'm just curious about having a wired connection and wifi being used at the exact same time.

pipebomb_phil posted...

will I still get a strong connection if I'm wired and someone else is using wifi at the same time? Will anything slow down this way?

it depends on your router and internet connection. obviously everything will be limited by your wan speed, but you have to remember the router is hardware with a processor, ram, etc, too. I have actually maxed out the available connections and memory on my router a few times, resulting in speed taking a nosedive (from multiple computers with torrent programs asking for thousands of connections at a time). but if you have a decent router from the past decade and only a few devices on your network, you will likely never have an issue.

really, what you will see is simply a much "snappier" experience with wired. regardless of your wireless speed, there is tons of overhead and latency that basically cuts your speed in half from the beginning, and then interference, multiple devices, etc, take it down from there. you don't have those issues with wired (assuming your router can handle the throughput, which it will in the majority of situations).

Congratulations. Luckily for me all the stuff I care to have wired is in my room so it was easy. But upfront in the living room it's so so, so I'll be getting another router to act as a bridge/repeater.

pipebomb_phil posted...

I'm afraid to drill holes in the wall because there might be some electronic wires behind it

Just buy a Walabot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08733z958qY

k debonair posted...

pipebomb_phil posted...

will I still get a strong connection if I'm wired and someone else is using wifi at the same time? Will anything slow down this way?

it depends on your router and internet connection. obviously everything will be limited by your wan speed, but you have to remember the router is hardware with a processor, ram, etc, too. I have actually maxed out the available connections and memory on my router a few times, resulting in speed taking a nosedive (from multiple computers with torrent programs asking for thousands of connections at a time). but if you have a decent router from the past decade and only a few devices on your network, you will likely never have an issue.

really, what you will see is simply a much "snappier" experience with wired. regardless of your wireless speed, there is tons of overhead and latency that basically cuts your speed in half from the beginning, and then interference, multiple devices, etc, take it down from there. you don't have those issues with wired (assuming your router can handle the throughput, which it will in the majority of situations).

Alright, thanks!

BrokenMachine85 posted...

pipebomb_phil posted...

I'm afraid to drill holes in the wall because there might be some electronic wires behind it

Just buy a Walabot.

Still too risky for me. Not worth it.

WoodenRook posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08733z958qY

I like her accent.

And yeah, I'm not gonna drill my wall. Sounds too dangerous even with those tools.

I get it, but there's some things that you just need to be able to do as an adult. And if you can't do this, it's gonna hinder a lot of those things.

It's so easy to know where cables run. THey never run horizontal in a wall unless your electrician is an idiot. Hardest part is if you see a power outlet or light switch is to figure out what side of the stud the box is on. Clearly its easy if youre against a wall or door frame as itll be on the opposite of the wall but if the wall plugs in the middle of the wall then its 50/50 on what side of the stud the box will be on. Best bet is to find a wall you want a RJ45 plate on and find the area between the studs not near another outlet and there youll be more than likely safe to cut a hole using a Sheetrock saw.

Now for pipes and stuff that can be a bit more of a hassle.

I've been wanting to do this forever, I'm probably going to hire someone though since my place would be a lot of effort that I'm not willing to put up.